"
"There's plenty of rough Greek wine in his hold; but, as thou sayest, we
have naught with him. Yon tall ship, which is moored without the smaller
craft of our seas, is the vessel of a Lutheran from the islands of
Inghilterra. 'Twas a sad day for the Republic, girl, when it first
permitted the stranger to come into the waters of the Adriatic!"
"Is it certain, Gino, that the arm of St. Mark was strong enough to keep
him out?"
"Mother of Diana! I would rather thou didst not ask that question in a
place where so many gondoliers are in motion! Here are Ragusans,
Maltese, Sicilians, and Tuscans without number; and a little fleet of
French lie near each other there, at the entrance of the Giudecca. They
are a people who get together, afloat or ashore, for the benefit of the
tongue. Here we are, at the end of our journey."
The oar of Gino gave a backward sweep, and the gondola was at rest by
the side of a felucca.
"A happy night to the Bella Sorrentina and her worthy padrone!" was the
greeting of the gondolier, as he put his foot on the deck of the vessel.
"Is the honest Stefano Milano on board the swift felucca?"
The Calabrian was not slow to answer; and in a few moments the padrone
and his two visitors were in close and secret conference.
"I have brought one here who will be likely to put good Venetian
sequins into thy pocket, caro," observed the gondolier, when the
preliminaries of discourse had been properly observed.
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